Thomas Stevenson
Thomas Peabody Stevenson (born January 13, 1951) is an American Politician and Businessman who previously served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts and current serves as the 72nd United States Secretary of State under President Calvin Reed. Early Life and Education In 1951, Thomas Peabody Stevenson was born, ultimately raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. As a member of one of one of the Boston Brahmin families, the Peabody family, his whole life was charted and prepared for him. From a young age he desired political power, telling his parents at the age of 8 that he would one day be president. Throughout his schooling, Thomas was relatively studious and intelligent, though he was something of a coward. Facing draft board for Vietnam, Thomas pulled strings with his mother's powerful family to have himself deffered, which allowed for Thomas to attend Harvard. It was there that he earned a degree in history, followed by an MBA at Harvard Business School. In Harvard he was far from exceptional, but he ceased his passion for football, and gained a passion for speech, as it helped him with his second passion of womanizing. Pre-Political Career After earning his MBA, under some duress from his father over his lack of military service, Thomas became a Peace Corps volunteer for a two year stint. He joined the largest group of volunteers in the program during the 1970s, heading to Ethiopia. While there, he taught English to school children. This again brought him mockery, as he took on this assignment expressly to avoid manual labor and more important tasks. Upon his return to Boston, Stevenson was hired by the State Street Corporation as an asset manager. He did a decent job in the position, so in 1982, he was promoted. He became a junior executive at the bank's London office, overseeing the trading operations in the United Kingdom. In 1986, he was called back to Massachusetts. He received an appointment to the board of the newly founded Staples Incorporated, of which his father was a large investor. Soon after, Stevenson was appointed as Senior Vice President for Corporate Strategy. From this role, he advised the company's expansion into Canada with the founding of The Business Depot. He was a strong advocate for the company's UK expansion, even offering to run the potential subsidiary, but that never came to fruition. Political Career State Senate By the early 1990s, Stevenson was actively recruited to run for office. His charisma and business acumen was attractive to the state GOP (along with his family connections.) Stevenson enjoyed the attention, and feigned hesitation, while secretly planning on an extensive political career. This career with his 1992 purchase of a colonial mansion in Needham Massachusetts, outside of Boston. Then, he was brought on as a member of the Massachusetts Republican Committee, a job he had no interest in whatsoever. It became a stepping for him to make contacts and gain policy experience. The state party yet again advised him to aim for the legislature rather than statewide office out of the gate, as they hoped his voice in the state legislature would help them to gain seats. So, Stevenson ran for state senate in 1994 as a moderate Republican, and sailed to victory. He then retired from business and dived into politics full time. Stevenson shook up the tiny GOP contingent in the state senate. He worked with both Democrats and Republicans alike to foster the growing high-tech and finance industries in the state, by promoting tax exemptions and funding for computer and science funding for secondary schools. In 1996, Stevenson's true skill came through as a fundraiser. His charisma and connections allowed him to create a comparatively massive warchest for the tiny Republican caucus. This allowed for the Republicans to pick up 4 seats and for Stevenson to be installed as ranking member of the Steering Committee. Shortly after, Stevensonbegan to enter the national radar. He emerged as an articulate and charismatic opposition voice to the Democratic dominated state. In 1998, the longtime State Senate Minority Leader retired. Stevenson was able to jump ahead of the two dueling assistant minority leaders and take the vacant position. He continued to work with the tiny minority, and became a well known figure in Massachusetts public life. In 1999, his renown grew as he married Kristen Stevenson. As the tech bubble burst and the state economy slumped, Stevenson attempted to push through a number of economic reforms, all of which were all but ignored by the majority. However, his desire for action turned public favor in his direction. Gubernatorial Run Once 2001 came, Stevenson was being openly called to run for governor. On the day of the September 11 attacks, he would make a rousing speech on the steps of the statehouse in Boston, calling for unity in the face of terror. This speech made network television in the weeks after the crisis, causing money to pour into a Gubernatorial exploration committee founded by Stevenson as a fundraising vehicle. Finally, in early 2002, he declared his candidacy. He won the GOP's endorsement outright at convention, with his opponents, a state rep, a businessman, state commissioner for the previous administration each failing to qualify for the primary ballot. In the general election for the open seat, Stevenson faced Mary Clifford, President of the University of Massachusetts system. The Democrats attempted to paint Stevenson as the conservative firebrand of the state legislature. In response, Stevenson took a moderate tack. He came out in support of abortion rights (just not late term), and said he would support the decision of Massachusetts's Superior Court on the issue of same sex marriage. As per usual, Stevenson made a series of rousing speeches which garnered millions of dollars worth of free airtime. As Massachusetts faced a rape crisis in the Catholic Church, a blooming budget deficit, and a rapidly declining economy, Stevenson made his most famous speech on the Boston Commons. He called for a return to civility and honor in public life as negativity filled the Massachusetts political atmosphere. He also called for a return to "Yankee sensibilities" like frugality and respect. Though he was considered the underdog for much of the race, Stevenson ran a very dynamic and positive campaign. This allowed for him to pull off a narrow victory of 50.6% to Clifford's 46.9%. Gubernatorial Tenure First Term Stevenson's first term brought in sweeping changes to the state. His cabinet was filled with contacts from the business world, and he was dubbed a "CEO Governor." From day 1, Stevenson began auditing all state government departments to cut waste, and vowed to balance the budget. Stevenson established a hiring freeze and cancelled pay raises for state employees, temporarily raised property and income taxes and closed business tax loopholes to make up the rest of the deficit. Stevenson was then enabled to cut the corporate tax rate. This combined with Stevenson's national marketing efforts spurned investment into the state once more and turned around the Massachusetts economy. While it was unpopular at first, Stevenson delivered a series of speeches on "belt tightening," and "emergency measures," to keep the deficit and state economy from spiralling out of control. In cooperation with a board of experts and a desperate and beaten Democratic legislature, Stevenson created MassCare, a program to bring the state to near universal health coverage. Stevenson opposed the individual mandate included in the program, but it was forced through by the Democratic legislature, along with a Medicare expansion for children and pregnant women. At the end of his term, as the economy recovered and the state budget stabilized, Stevenson kept his promise and rolled back the increases to the sales, income, and property taxes. His integrity and ability to make this difficult decision garnered him favor with the electorate. Having turned around the Massachusetts economy and brought near universal healthcare to the state, Stevenson only faced nominal opposition in 2006. Richard Adolfini, a former state Representative took only 31.2% of the vote to Stevenson's 64.7%. Stevenson flatly refused to even debate the opponent. Second Term At the start of his second term, Stevenson agreed to a union-backed bill to incrementally raise the minimum wage to 14 dollars per hour by 2020. He also curried favor with the educational community by agreeing to increase community college funding. Stevenson also pushed the legislature to reduce the state income tax from 5.3% to 5%, in accordance with a referendum in 2000 on the subject. He claimed these cuts would pay for themselves. As the financial crisis and recession struck the US, Stevenson vowed to keep the budget balanced. He made a series of speeches on "standing together" and "keeping the ship on the right course" that went viral. This led to people considering him as presidential timber for 2008, something he passed on to "secure a future for the children of Massachusetts in the face of financial ruin." Fortunately, Stevenson helped to set the economy on the rebound by helping to foster the IT industry and high tech manufacturing with his "Highschool to College to Career" pipeline, and by offering tax breaks to resent college graduates if they remain in-state. Stevensonrefused to support the idea of casino construction in the state, saying it "would bring more harm than good to those who are struggling most in this state." He also repeatedly pigeon-holed gun control and abortion expansion legislation. Presidential Campaign In 2010, Stevenson retired from public life in Massachusetts. He finished his second term as one of the most popular governors in the country, holding a 73% approval rating. His rousing farewell address again went viral, kicking off presidential buzz for 2012. He began to build a campaign, and early polling showed him doing well. His performance in Massachusetts combined with his inspiring global view of international relations made him a popular candidate. He was also viewed as more in-touch with the electorate. However, he ignored the early primary states hoping to cash in big on Super Tuesday, which proved to be a fatal strategic error. That, combined with a poor debate performance allowed for Glover to take the lead among moderate Republicans. After South Carolina, Stevenson went all in for Glover. The presidential bid also killed his marriage. He married Kirsten Stevenson for her to be his arm candy. She hoped to make a difference as first lady of the Commonwealth, but he relegated her to Smiler in Chief and Secretary of Waving to Children. He was also a distant husband, not providing nearly enough love or emotional performance. His libido also diminished greatly with age, causing her to seek other avenues. Because he was running for President, Stevenson could not even fully support his wife in her senate bid. Once it became clear she was cheating on him, he publicly divorced her and shamed her, and endorsed Alexander Breckenridge. Return to the Private Sector After his campaign fizzled out, and Glover lost, Stevenson looked to re-enter the business world. He was quickly hired by Raytheon as a political consultant, and was brought back onto the board for Staples. Raytheon remains a controversial business due to its ties to the military-industrial complex. Overall, he had left the public eye. Secretary of State Stevenson was interviewed and ultimately chosen for the position of Secretary of State following the near-death of then Secretary Abelard Bell. Stevenson was confirmed overwhelmingly and sworn in on July 3, 2017. Personal life Stevenson is a practicing Episcopalian. He is able to trace his family back to the Mayflower on his father's side, and he is a member of the Peabody family on his mother's side. He retains his home in Needham, Massachusetts. He actively supported the candidacy of Zachary Fowler in the 2016 Vermont Senate race. Divorced his now ex-wife Kristen Stevenson following her public adultery in 2012.